SOLID OVERSEAS PERFORMANCE

Cartrack closes in on low-end market

Vehicle-tracking group Cartrack is eyeing 1-million subscribers in SA as it targets the untapped low-end market and the small to medium-enterprise fleet sector.

The company, which has 450,000 customers in SA, provides technology products and related services for the tracking of vehicles.

The group operates in 24 countries and grew its total subscriber base by 19% to 600,610 for the year to February.

Cartrack CEO Zak Calisto said that many car owners in the low-end market segment lacked insurance and that the car theft rate in it was high.

The company will partner with insurance companies to tailor-make affordable insurance packages.

“There are some people in that LSM [living-standards measure] that are also paying high premiums they shouldn’t be paying,” Calisto said. Cartrack reported a 13% rise in revenue for the year to February to R1.14bn.

Operating profit increased 7% to R369m.

Profit for the year increased to R264.1m from R259.4m.

Cartrack’s biggest market is in SA, which delivered revenue growth of 15% to R861m.

But the rest of the African continent reported a 30% reduction in operating profit due to foreign exchange volatility and a flat subscriber base.

Although Cartrack expects the trading environment in the medium term to remain challenging, it said the long-term outlook for a turnaround remained positive.

Its operations in Europe reported a solid performance, with 14% revenue growth to R102.7m, while Asia Pacific and the Middle East grew revenue 147% to R68.1m, largely due to a 225% growth in subscribers.